GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Alma College track and field programs opened up the MIAA outdoor field days with the addition of multi-events being included in the championship once again. The decathlon and heptathlon portion of the MIAA Championship was hosted by Calvin University on April 22nd and 23rd, just over a week before the rest of the championship will be hosted at Bahlke Field on Alma's campus. Helena Snyder and Leland Edelyn both competed in the multi events, with Snyder finishing third overall with 3,557 points and Edelyn placed seventh with 4,778 points.
Snyder's 3,557 points propelled her to third all-time on the Alma College record board for the outdoor heptathlon, now holding a spot on the indoor and outdoor top ten in the event. In the 100-meter hurdles, Snyder placed third with a time of 16.46, scoring 659 points. Snyder tied for the top position in the high jump, the event she was crowned the MIAA Champion in, during the indoor season, with a mark of 1.51 meters, adding another 632 points. With a throw of 7.08 meters, Snyder placed seventh in the shot put, accumulating another 340 points. Placing fifth in the 200 meters, scoring 621 points, Snyder ran a time of 28.12, finishing in the middle of the pack. One place better, in the long jump, Snyder finished fourth with a jump of 4.67 meters, scoring 472 points. In the javelin throw, Snyder placed sixth, throwing a mark of 17.94 meters, giving her another 251 points towards her total. Rounding out the events, in the 800-meter run, Snyder finished on the podium once again with a time of 2:39.21 for third, scoring 582 points, which brought her to her total score, with a 250-point cushion over Alysia Townsend of Adrian College, who finished fourth.
For the decathlon, Leland Edelyn also put himself in the record book with his score of 4,778, placing him eighth all-time in the event for program history. Kicking off with the 100-meter race, Edelyn finished in ninth, clocking a time of 12.30, scoring 593 points. Finishing ninth again, in the long jump, Edelyn jumped a mark of 5.16 meters, for 413 points. Scoring 358 points in the shot put, Edelyn finished with a mark of 7.86 meters, for ninth-place. Tying for seventh in the high jump with a mark of 1.58 meters, Edelyn scored an additional 449 points. For the halfway event, Edelyn had one of his highest finishes in the 400-meters, finishing fourth with a time of 53.57, bringing in another 657 points. Moving to the 110-meter hurdles, Edelyn nabbed sixth with a time of 17.72, adding another 551 points, followed by a seventh-place finish in the discus throw, tossing a mark of 23.97 meters, for another 347 points. In the pole vault, an event Edelyn competes in regularly, he was able to finish tied for fourth in the field, clearing a mark of 3.70 meters, bringing in 535 to his total. In the final field event, Edelyn claimed a sixth-place finish in the javelin throw, with a mark of 33.08 meters, for 343 points. For the final event, Edelyn scored another fourth-place finish in the 1500-meters, with a time of 5:04.86, being awarded another 532 points for his total. Edelyn finished over 175 points ahead if Ian Krump from Adrian, who finished eighth, behind Edelyn.
Emily Norkowski from The University of Olivet came away as the heptathlon champions with a score of 3,976, while Ethan Spahr from Trine University came away as the medalist in the decathlon with a score of 6,639.
The rest of the championship will take place on May 1st and 2nd, on the track at Bahlke Field, along with the surrounding areas for various field events. More information will be coming shortly with all the details regarding the MIAA Championship.
